1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire tying fixture, and more particularly to such a fixture for engaging a pair of pre-formed wire loops in interlaced relation to secure a wire tie about a cotton bale or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of wire ties for cotton bales and the like is well known, the ties being secured about bales while they are compressed by platens in a bale chamber, each tie having opposite ends providing pre-formed loops which mate in a square knot configuration to secure the tie tensioned about a bale. One platen of each bale chamber is provided with a plurality of fixtures individual to the ties, each having a channel disposed toward the bale chamber. The wires, bearing a pair of mating loops, are passed about a bale held under compression in the bale chamber and thrust manually in opposite directions into the channel where suitable surfaces of the fixture guide the loops into alignment so that the loops interlace when the wires are tensioned. The surfaces of the fixture between the interlaced loops and the bale are disposed on a member which pivots toward the bale in the bale chamber, thereby releasing the tie from the member with its ends tied, leaving the tie secured about the bale.
The surfaces for guiding the loops into alignment are within the channel and are thus concealed by the bale along with the loops as they are being aligned. It is, therefore, necessary to detect the proper alignment of the loops by "feel" of the portion of the wires extended outwardly from the fixture, so that improper alignment of the loops occurs even with experienced labor and is especially prevalent with inexperienced labor. As a result, it often happens that the loops are not interlaced or are improperly interlaced when compression of the bale is released by the platen. Recompression of the bale is then required when proper interlacing does not occur, resulting in substantial loss in time during the busy baling season.
It has long been recognized as highly advantageous to provide a wire tying fixture for use in interlacing the loops of wire ties for cotton bales which insures that the loops, although concealed within the fixture, are properly aligned for interlacing without relying on manipulations of portions of the wire remote from the loops.